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Doesn’t that just set things up? I’m going to twist the reference into something you probably didn’t expect. I’ve been researching the nature of self-development for many decades, applying the research to changing my own life as well as the many clients and organizations I’ve had relationships with over the years.

There has been an overwhelming notion that the core competencies in any successful individual and/or organization are simple: faith, love and trust. I’ll explain what I mean by that further. We’ll look at common definitions and and extended understand extrapolated from the common understanding in hopes of making sense common. The latter brings with it a more well-adjusted and available experience in personal and professional arenas.

Faith

In religion, faith often involves accepting claims about the character of a deity, nature, or the universe. While some have argued that faith is opposed to reason, proponents of faith argue that the proper domain of faith concerns questions which cannot be settled by evidence. For example, faith can be applied to predictions of the future, which (by definition) has not yet occurred.

The word faith is often used as a substitute for hope, trust or belief.”

So this would indicate that ‘faith’ is primarily something associated with religious or spiritual belief systems. What if it were also associated with ‘experience’ systems, those things we grow to know through our experience and understanding?

I would offer that it goes much further in practical application for everyday living. We have faith in many things that guide and nurture our lives. Most of the time that faith is built on experience with people, places and things. In some cases we might say it is more of a ‘knowing’ that develops over time, but with each new situation that ‘faith’ of certain things being present is undeniable. It is a core competency of our efforts to achieve anything worthwhile.

What about the people, places and things in our lives? Can we have faith in them? Of course. Our faith my be tempered by experience. We have faith that certain actions or words will cause a domino effect, cascading into the natural outcome if unaltered or unchecked. Faith also allows us to put people, places and things together on the fly when required to address action plans or emergencies. The former can be just as stressful as the latter, yet with the faith one has in their ability to perform the results are only a matter of time.

There is also a certain faith folks carry who feel they are part of something greater. In our current planetary position, there are a rising number of what were once called Cultural Creatives™ who sense an imperative need to change our attitudes toward fear-based belief systems. Instead of focusing on what is ‘wrong’ they are turning toward developing solutions for the challenges we face as a planetary civilization. The operation of such a movement begins in local communities with leaders who serve through challenging legislators to do what is beneficial for the health of the community and its residents. There is a certain ‘faith’ that drives these folks in doing what needs to be done.

Love

From Wikipedia: “The English word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from pleasure (“I loved that meal”) to interpersonal attraction (“I love my partner”). It can refer to an emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—”the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another”.And it may describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one’s self or animals.

In terms of interpersonal attraction, four forms of love have traditionally been distinguished, based on ancient Greek precedent: the love of kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), the love of friendship (philia), the love of sexual and/or romantic desire (eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape). Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love. Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states. This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts. Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.”

I want to offer a little twist the concept of LOVE. Let’s expand it to Limitless Oscillating Vibrational Energy – it just IS. I trust that paints an appropriate picture. LOVE is in action, it is alive in and around us always, coursing through every person and situation we encounter. We can feel it in our humble and quiet moments. We share the sensation we do the things that bring us happiness and joy. We don’t talk about it much, though. We talk about everything else, but what really matters; to love and be loved. At our core, we all desire the same thing, yet we act out in some amazing ways to produce just the opposite; isolation and separation when we put conditions on people, places and things.

Conversely when the little ego rises to the big Ego, the inspired self, it changes the game entirely. The sensation is sought after and recognized as a resonance that is undeniable. The Limitless Oscillating Vibrational Energy becomes a guiding beacon rather than a subtle distraction. To think it just magically appears is probably not far off the mark, when one releases their fear of … then a new freedom appears and the sensation of LOVE along with it. Sure, it is a challenge to engage this kind of activity or discussion in most public gatherings or workplaces. Still, if you don’t, who will?

LOVE, in this sense, is absent of emotion yet full of feeling. The reality is a paradox in play with the mind as it grabs for meaning and practicality. I would go so far as to say it is a natural state of the universe, a sensation that is felt in every living creature in some form or another. It sounds really simplistic, but then so does quantum physics view of the appearance of the particle or wave depending on the observer. So, LOVE is difficult to consistently define, beyond the emotional states. It is easy to sense, though, permeating our being and our lives.

The little ego begins to understand the Supra Ego, the Inspired ONE, engaged and enveloped by LOVE. How does this change our behavior? When we aspire to engage the sensation in all we do, everything changes and what once seemed insurmountable might seem as just a bump in the road on our journey. In our current state of affairs and social challenges it is even more imperative that this consciousness, this understanding and wisdom, prevails in our every deed and thought. We can demonstrate, but not dominate the conversation.

Trust

From Wikipedia: “In a social context, trust has several connotations. Definitions of trust typically refer to a situation characterized by the following aspects: One party (trustor) is willing to rely on the actions of another party (trustee); the situation is directed to the future. In addition, the trustor (voluntarily or forcedly) abandons control over the actions performed by the trustee. As a consequence, the trustor is uncertain about the outcome of the other’s actions; he can only develop and evaluate expectations. The uncertainty involves the risk of failure or harm to the trustor if the trustee will not behave as desired.

Trust can be attributed to relationships between people. It can be demonstrated that humans have a natural disposition to trust and to judge trustworthiness that can be traced to the neurobiological structure and activity of a human brain, and can be altered e.g. by the application of oxytocin.

Conceptually, trust is also attributable to relationships within and between social groups (families, friends, communities, organizations, companies, nations etc.). It is a popular approach to frame the dynamics of inter-group and intra-group interactions in terms of trust.

When it comes to the relationship between people and technology, the attribution of trust is a matter of dispute. The intentional stance demonstrates that trust can be validly attributed to human relationships with complex technologies. However, rational reflection leads to the rejection of an ability to trust technological artifacts.

One of the key current challenges in the social sciences is to re-think how the rapid progress of technology has impacted constructs such as trust. This is specifically true for information technology that dramatically alters causation in social systems.

In the social sciences, the subtleties of trust are a subject of ongoing research. In sociology and psychology the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, fairness, or benevolence of another party. The term “confidence” is more appropriate for a belief in the competence of the other party. Based on the most recent research, a failure in trust may be forgiven more easily if it is interpreted as a failure of competence rather than a lack of benevolence or honesty. In economics trust is often conceptualized as reliability in transactions. In all cases trust is a heuristic decision rule, allowing the human to deal with complexities that would require unrealistic effort in rational reasoning.”

Now let’s take a twisted view of trust. What circuitous journey am I going to take you on now? Trust is a natural foundation of living, but we have to let go of our vice-grip on reality to truly TRUST. This is probably the ultimate challenge for the change agent, you. It is self-initiating and ultimately self-fulfilling when the vision, mission, plan, practice and performance manifest as a successful endeavor.

In this kind of scenario and in order for us to serve a mission or purpose, the ‘me’ or ‘I’ has to take a break and sit out for a moment. The question arises, “How can I help with the best use of my ability, skills set and understanding for….?” With such a question and from a place of quiet observation one can allow a natural flow of appropriate contemplations or thoughts to emerge. Answers flow and quite often one simply ‘sees’ what needs to be done.

When one is able to step back and observe a situation BEFORE being engaged by it, there is the capacity for shaping the results in a positive way by simple non-attached observation coupled with that sensation of trust. Yes, it is another sensation. It has subtle differences from faith and love. Each has a frequency or resonance that is perceivable or perceptible by the body-mind sensory array. We just haven’t tuned ourselves in properly.

It applies to social architecture of the future as well. Faith, love and trust are intrinsic in developing personal and professional relationships, yet far too often we treat each other as potential enemies vying for attention, time and market share. People don’t change, a person does. If one finds people, places and things that promote happiness and harmony, how difficult is it to share those with their cohorts, peers or staff? If we are going to find sustainable processes that create a better world, what might we search for in the smorgasbord of solutions?

So what does this all mean, the twisted views? I have a feeling that these are operational foundations of our natural being. Our choice is whether we learn how to operate with them or continue to ignore them and flounder down the path to perdition we’re on as a planetary population. The practical side is the application of the new living awareness in everything we are, do and hope for in this life. It applies to how we treat ourselves, each other and our planet.

Some deeper part of me knows this is natural – BEing in faith, love and trust. The rest are distractions to the truth.

Spectrum Academy is a model peer-community that helps youth find restored hope and success in their lives through holistic education reform. A peer-community is a community based on shared support, giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful.

It is imperative that we begin in Arizona, where per capita student dollars are the lowest in the nation despite it being one of the highest growth rates in the nation.

Spectrum Academy uses a holistic approach to education, through providing a fun-to-learn-in space where youth can heal their emotional wounds and learn positive habits. Even science has proven how all things are connected, which has been known by Indigenous peoples for centuries. So why aren’t we using more of this knowledge now?

Mission: Provide an alternative state-of-the-art holistic educational and living environment for youth 14 – 21 using proven programs that result in healthy and productive young adults who contribute to society.

At-risk youth find it hard to make sense of their world. Some feel they are being drugged (by their parents and schools) so adults can deal with them. Others lives are impoverished from a lack of parental presence yet they are supposed to know how to live appropriately.

The latter often end up on the streets, in group homes, incarcerated, or worse. What kind of a message are we giving them? We feel we have an answer to help change the pattern of abuse. We’ve done extensive research and have relative experience from the campus and classrooms of several districts and charter schools already.

Spectrum Academy combines a charter school, residential treatment component, and a community technology/data center within a living environment to empower youth to change their direction toward success. A peer community council engages the drive to discovery of how to live and work together in harmony.

Depression is the number one factor that keeps youth from learning, so they need help with managing emotions and understanding human behavior. Once they are available to learn, the school lessons and staff assist their growth and understanding of being part of a healthy community.

Holistic education is concerned with the connectedness of all things and nurtures this understanding in youth, providing a path to a healthy and productive lifestyle. Traditional educational frameworks are like slow-moving dinosaurs in the need for changing our educational delivery systems. Spectrum Academy provides a solid yet flexible framework to manage the challenging and changing needs with style and grace.

Sustainability is achieved through the synergistic union of a community technology center, subscription-based Web services, cottage industry development, and community shops. The energy required will be provided by leading green technology incorporated in the curriculum and construction build out.

As the public awareness of Spectrum Academy grows, the subscription and e-commerce features of the data center provide the financial resources for Spectrum Academy. Cottage industry development and strategically placed storefronts on the perimeter of the site creates the personal and professional bridge for youth and their community. Community connections create sustainable successes. This ‘sustainability’ piece is an addition to previous educational models.

Alliances and partnerships with industry leaders bridge 21st Century learners with 21st Century technology, assisting youth to evolve and facilitate a healthier global culture. This proactive approach to addressing the growing concern of a healthy society creates utility in applying best practices across multiple disciplines, maximizing funds and building a learning organization that can meet shifting demands in service delivery and community support. We talk about building a better world. This is a step. Will you help?

A recent needs assessment performed by a collaborative of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert, Arizona city governments found that the public holds youth and family programs as a top priority in service delivery. Strategic civil planning community development initiatives need to be in place to make this happen.

This can only happen with your help in spreading the word and garnering support. It is worth going viral with today’s web technology and social media. You can help make it happen, right here, right now. We’ve got groups forming and Facebook and LinkedIn. Blog about us, here and everywhere. You can help us through the process, too.

Be The Dream… Think about that phrase for a moment. Let it sink in. No doubt it brings up all kinds of good feelings and images. Possibly you allowed yourself to escape into a nice fantasy for a moment, maybe including your own children, grandchildren, and extended family.

Some children do not even know they can dream….yet. Spectrum Academy can assist many challenged youth to new heights in self-esteem, academic and post-secondary or professional success, and even achieving new dreams.

Beyond our own skills and talent, this solution comes from a much deeper place within us all. You may find congruence in your own considerations of this dilemma and its resolution using state-of-the-art technology across the spectrum of needs.

Our administrative, construction, educational, fiscal and management contacts grow daily. We need your help to put them in play. Our activities are completely congruent with best practices, completely transparent and transcendent of current models. As Einstein related some time ago, a problem cannot be fixed by the same tools that created it.